In “A Rose for Emily,” by William Faulkner, the author conveys the theme as people being afraid of change and how fear can take over one’s life when wanting to protect and preserve their past. He illustrates this through character, setting and symbolism.

In opening characterization, Faulkner represents Ms. Emily Grierson with his descriptive words of choice with foreshadowing his climax of the story. (Knickerbocker). He begins to describe her when two Board of Aldermen employees come to her home to retrieve a response for her reason of not replying back to the recent tax notices left to her. “Her skeleton was small and sparse.” The description used depicts her unwillingness to change with the newer generation of society around her. “She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue.” (Faulkner 30). Almost looking dead and sort of distorted into what is surrounding her, Faulkner also uses the interior of the living room to describe her presence as he says, “It smelled of dust and disuse–a close, dank smell,” and when her guests were seated down “A faint dust rose sluggishly about their thighs, spinning with slow motes in the single sun-ray.” (Faulkner 30). Her personality more importantly shows Emily's attempts to stop time by confusing past and present and refusing to accept change, “For example, the story begins at the end of Miss Emily’s life then goes backward to 1894 and sometime after her father’s death when Colonel Sartoris has her taxes remitted; then forward from there to the next generation that demands those taxes.” (Sullivan 84). Faulkner shows her resistance to evolve when the “Next generation, with its more modern ideas, “ call a meeting to get a response for the tax notice that was left without comment, as previously mentioned. “ See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson,” she said with nearly demanding tone of voice, “I have no taxes in Jefferson. Tobe! Show these...

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...Blankenship 1
Jackie Blankenship
English 101
September 24, 2014
A Rose for EmilyTheme
In William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily" the theme is death. Death is
referenced at least five times in this story which is why it is so fitting. The main character,
Emily, dies. The story itself begins and ends at her funeral. In the middle of the story the narrator
flashes back to when Emily's father passed away. Within the closing statements of the story the
townspeople discover something quite intriguing, Emily's most recent lovers' corpse. Some
people have a hard time dealing with death while it seems Emily is just comfortable with it.
"When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral;"(Faulkner 32).
The opening lines if this story mention Emily's passing. The narrator states reasons why
everyone came, which was curiosity.The townspeople were always Emily never left the house
much when she and her father were alive, which rises the whole towns interest (Smith par. 2).
Emily's father was a very over protective man as well as him having the mindset that no man was
ever good enough for his daughter. Had he robbed Emily of her youth? "We remembered all the
young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to
cling to that which had robbed her, as people will" (Faulkner...

...A Rose For Emily
In many stories characters isolate themselves for society, due to events of their past. Extreme isolation can cause can cause loneliness in one's life. In ''A Rose For Emily'', the author seems to portray that such isolation can cause someone to do an unspeakable act. Isolation and loneliness in any case will cause some behavioral issues.
The main character, Emily Grierson lives her life under her father. Her father thinks that no man is good enough for his daughter. Therefore, he pushes anyone who comes near his daughter. After living like this for many years, Emily is left with nothing after her father dies. Due to that fact that her father has driven all the men who wanted to enter her life, she is left alone in complete isolation from the world.
Emily stays in her house for sometime. The house shields Emily from the world suggesting her mind is trying to cling to all she has known. Emily is a quiet and mysterious figure. She enforces her own sense of law and conduct, such as when she refuses to pay her taxes or tell her purpose for buying the poison. Her refusal of the law eventually takes on worse consequences, as she takes the life of the man who she refuses to allow to abandon her.
Miss Emily seems to start to show some sense of socialism when she meets a man named Homer Barron. They are together...

...Edgar Delalamon
A ROSE FOR EMILY
BY WILLIAM FAULKNER The narrator describes what happens after Emily dies. Emily’s body is laid out in the parlor, and the women, town elders, and two cousins attend the service.
The narrator describes the fear that some of the townspeople have that Emily will use the poison to kill herself.
The narrator recalls the time of Emily Grierson’s death and how the entire town attended her funeral in her home, which no stranger had entered for more than ten years.
The narrator describes a time thirty years earlier when Emily resists another official inquiry on behalf of the town leaders, when the townspeople detect a powerful odor emanating from her property.
The narrator describes a long illness that Emily suffers after this incident.
After some time has passed, the door to a sealed upstairs room that had not been opened in forty years is broken down by the townspeople. The room is frozen in time, with the items for an upcoming wedding and a man’s suit laid out. Homer Barron’s body is stretched on the bed as well, in an advanced state of decay. The onlookers then notice the indentation of a head in the pillow beside Homer’s body and a long strand of Emily’s gray hair on the pillow.
The summer after her father’s death, the town contracts workers to pave the sidewalks, and a construction company, under the direction of northerner Homer Barron,...

...“A Rose for Emily”
Character Analysis of Miss Emily Grierson
“A Rose for Emily” written by William Faulkner, is a story of Miss Emily Grierson, a woman who was born into a wealthy family in the town of Jefferson. She grew up and lived in a huge Victorian home with servants. After the Civil War, it seems that her family’s wealth started to diminish but the Grierson’s were still trapped in the past of their family’s wealth. Emily Grierson’s past and present life is being recalled by a narrator who expresses the attitudes and ideas of the community. The narrator uses phrases like “We knew”, “We said”, and “We believed” to show the towns involvement. The townspeople pity Miss Emily and look at her as “fallen monument.
Miss Emily is from a classic wealthy southern family, whose name was well respected in the town of Jefferson. Miss Emily had been placed on a pedestal all her life. Because her family held itself higher than what they really were, Emily’s father thought no man was good enough for her and drove all the male suitors who came to court her away. When Miss Emily’s father died, she kept the body in the house for three days not allowing anyone to come and remove him. Faulkner gives us a peek into the depth of the relationship that Miss Emily had with her father and it was more than just the normal father-...

...Emily Grierson, referred to as Miss Emily throughout the story, is the main character of 'A Rose for Emily,' written by William Faulkner. Emily is born to a proud, aristocratic family sometime during the Civil War; Miss Emily used to live with her father and servants, in a big decorated house. The Grierson Family considers themselves superior than other people of the town. According to Miss Emily's father none of the young boys were suitable for Miss Emily. Due to this attitude of Miss Emily's father, Miss Emily was not able to develop any real relationship with anyone else, but it was like her world revolved around her father.
When her father passed away, it was a devastating loss for Miss Emily. The lines from the story 'She told them her father was not dead. She did that for three days,' (Charter 171) conveys the message that she tried to hold on to him, even after his death. Even though, this was a sad moment for Emily, but she was liberated from the control of her father. Instead of going on with her life, her life halted after death of her father. Miss Emily found love in a guy named Homer Barron, who came as a contractor for paving the sidewalks in town. Miss Emily was seen in buggy on Sunday afternoons with Homer Barron. The whole town thought they would get married. One could know this by the...

...﻿ “A rose for Emily”
“A Rose for Emily” is a story about Emily Grierson who kills her Yankee boyfriend Homer Barron and lives with his body in her bedroom for over forty years. However, the story is not really about Miss Emily’s actions, but more about the society that made her into who she is and how it conflicted with the ever changing post southern civil war society. Miss Emily grew up as part of an aristocratic Southern family, with an overpowering father who refused to allow her to be courted by the young men of the town. It is Emily’s father who first elevated her to idol status by keeping her segregated from her peers, and giving her this ego by putting her on such a high pedestal. Emily’s father is a proud man of his Southern heritage and of his family’s status in town, which further perpetuates the legacy and ego of their house hold name. After her father’s death, the town continues to idolize Miss Emily as a monument of their old southern era before the war. Faulkner states this fact at the very beginning of the story when he says,
“Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (Faulkner 29).
Miss Emily did represent a tradition towards the old South and their ways in the eyes of the town. Miss Emily is referred to as an “idol” by Faulkner multiple...

...﻿A rose for Emily
This story happens after the American Civil War, in Jefferson Town. It’s a story about an eccentric spinster named Emily Grierson whose marriage is totally manipulated by her father. Two years after her father’s death, poor Emily is acquainted with a northerner called Homer Barron, a day laborer and she falls in love with him. However, their relation is short-lived as Homer becomes tired of her and intends to get rid of her. In order to keep Homer at hand, Emily kills him with arsenic and “obtain” him, thus, she sleeps with his corpse for decades. This is the truth that villagers find after her death. From my own perspective, this masterpiece reflects the decline of the southern society and reveals the conflicts between the two different value systems and two societies after the American Civil War. Then, I will explain my opinions from the following three aspects: character, symbol and setting.
Emily is an embodiment of the south, the old and tradition. At the very beginning of this story, the writer recounts the decoration of her house which is still 1870s style, isn’t change any more. Besides, she is also obstinate. When the new government compel the taxes on her，she refuses to pay the tax and even ridiculously mentions a colonel who has been dead almost ten years. Another example is that she prevents people from installing mail-box on the wall. She keeps the...